A crowdfunding site for tech startups, a gin-infused cocktail bar, and more

"New in Chicago" is just that: a listing of businesses getting off the ground in and around Chicago. Please send us your startup announcements. Email is best: [email protected]

Crain's contributor Robert Loerzel brings you news of fresh local startups every Tuesday on Crain's blog for Chicago entrepreneurs.

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Ox&Pen: This West Side startup is launching its merchant loyalty program on Saturday (March 24). The mobile app and website aim to help small-business owners attract and retain customers with discount deals and loyalty rewards. Unlike most loyalty programs — in which a customer gets a reward after making five or 10 purchases at a business — Ox&Pen allows shoppers to earn points at a variety of businesses and then get a reward at any one of the participating shops. Merchants featured in Ox&Pen's beta launch include Vera, Roots Pizza, Leopold, The Fifty/50, Krista K Boutique, Bleeding Heart Bakery and HM Day Spa. Ox&Pen will also offer promotions that require no upfront purchase or printed voucher. Contrasting his company with discount-deal websites such as Groupon, Ox&Pen founder and CEO Andrew Gluck says, “Sometimes people need more than steep, one-day discounts to become loyal patrons.”

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Half Italian Grocer: Now open at 2643 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Logan Square, this deli-market-restaurant serves sandwiches — specialties like the All Italian, the Bella and the Beef Beauty, as well as prosciutto sandwiches and BLTs. The pantry goods include items from Boat Street, Vermont Creamery, Organic Farming, Cafe Umbria, Omed and CropCup. “My travels to Europe always include stops to local markets, where I am continually inspired by shop owners who keep it simple and fresh,” owner Nancy Kemp writes on Half Italian's website. She says she was inspired to start her shop by “memories of Saturday morning trips with my dad to Harlem Avenue to visit our local Italian store.”

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TechMoola.com: This Chicago-based crowdfunding website, which launched in February, helps innovators raise money for new technology and gadgets. That focus makes it different from Kickstarter, which is known more for hosting artistic ventures and design projects. “We focus exclusively on novel, innovative, homegrown, American technologies,” says Solomon Arman Nabatiyan, who co-founded TechMoola with Tom Kelly. Mr. Nabatiyan says TechMoola has 12 projects that will go live soon on the website, including a new way of measuring blood glucose noninvasively, water softeners for field use, plastic recycling devices, electric car engines and batteries, and puzzles for seniors and those with memory and cognitive issues. Mr. Kelly is also founder and CEO of CharityAuctionsToday.com. Mr. Nabatiyan is a research professor in biomedical engineering at Northwestern University, as well as founder and CEO of Cervia Diagnostic Innovations. One of the projects featured now on TechMoola is CerviaDx's cervical cancer test for women. “We want to produce a disposable unit . . . similar to a pregnancy test (that) will enable doctors to screen women onsite and get results within 30 minutes as to the presence of cancerous or pre-cancerous lesions,” the site explains.

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Scofflaw: This gin-focused cocktail bar with small plates opened last week at 3201 W. Armitage Ave. in Logan Square, the space formerly occupied by Streetside Bar & Grill. A sample of what's on the cocktail menu: the St. Charles, which is inspired by the Sazerac, a popular New Orleans drink. The St. Charles includes 2 ounces of Jasmine tea-infused Death's Door Gin, a quarter-ounce of Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur, a quarter ounce of Demerara Syrup and four dashes of Peychaud's Bitters, stirred and strained into an absinthe-rinsed glass, with lemon peel oil over the surface and a garnish of lemon peel on the glass's lip. Early reviews of Scofflaw on Yelp have been enthusiastic. “The atmosphere is dark, intimate and sexy,” one reviewer wrote, while another called it “classy.” And another said, “The space looks incredible, the drinks are amazing, staff is wonderful, food is really (expletive) good.”

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The Snoring Center: This national chain of clinics that offer treatment for snoring, sleep apnea and nasal allergies opened its first Chicago office at 875 N. Dearborn Ave., Suite 400, in January. Victoria Brkovich of Naperville is medical director of the Chicago office. The Snoring Center has another seven locations across the country.